AFRICA: In Zimbabwe, teachers, doctors and nurses began a strike over unpaid salaries, a day after police used force against protesting taxi drivers in the capital, Harare, as the country’s economy deteriorates.

AMERICAS: Dozens of Venezuelan women broke through a barricade along the Venezuelan-Colombian border in order to find food.

ASIA: The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention demanded China release US businesswoman Sandy Phan-Gillis, saying she had been “arbitrarily detained”.

EUROPE: The United Kingdom went to war in Iraq before all peaceful options for disarming Saddam Hussein were exhausted, the long-awaited Chilcot report has concluded.

MIDDLE EAST: Yemeni government forces supported by a Saudi-led coalition recaptured army headquarters at Aden airport from suspected jihadists after an hours-long firefight.

TECHNOLOGY: In a fusion of ancient barbaric practices and modern technology, the Islamic State group sells women and girls held as sex slaves on smart phone apps, like WhatsApp and Telegram.

TOP STORY

Eid al-Fitr: Muslims worldwide celebrate the end of Ramadan

After a grueling summer month of not eating and drinking during daylight hours for most of the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims, today is cause for celebration and feasting for Muslims as they mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan with Eid al-Fitr.

The Syrian army said it would observe a 72-hour ceasefire across the country, to mark the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

President Bashar al-Assad joined Eid al-Fitr prayers at a mosque in Homs in a rare public appearance for the end-of-Ramadan holiday.

Central African Republic: At least 12 people were killed in fighting between two factions of a former rebel group in the town of Bambari. (Reuters)

Nigeria: Nigerian militant group the Niger Delta Avengers said only its Twitter account is under suspension and all other accounts claiming to represent the group were imposters. (Reuters)

Zimbabwe: Teachers, doctors and nurses began a strike over unpaid salaries, a day after police used force against protesting taxi drivers in the capital, Harare, as the country’s economy deteriorates. (Reuters)

AMERICAS

Region: Dozens of Venezuelan women broke through a barricade along the Venezuelan-Colombian border in order to find food. (Miami Herald)

Brazil: The country’s top security force officially took control of security at the venues for the Rio Olympics in a ceremony at Barra Olympic Park. (Xinhua)

ASIA

Region: Hong Kong rebuffed Chinese threats of legal action, saying there was no legal way a Hong Kong bookseller could be sent back to China. (Reuters)

China: The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention demanded the country release US businesswoman Sandy Phan-Gillis, saying she had been “arbitrarily detained”. (AFP)

Korean Peninsula: South Korea is planning to ramp up propaganda broadcasts targeting North Korean troops by doubling the number of loudspeakers along the heavily-fortified border. (AFP)

Sri Lanka: The country intends to become completely demilitarized by 2018, the government said. (AFP)

EUROPE

Region: Russia said it believed the recent attack on Istanbul airport could be a result of Turkish and European security services ignoring Moscow’s signals about suspected “terrorists” hiding in Turkey and Europe. (Reuters)

Region: US Secretary of State John Kerry is visiting Georgia and Ukraine to reassure the former Soviet republics of America’s commitment to their security amid unease over Russia’s intentions. (AP)

Turkey: The country is trying to seal off the southern city of Gaziantep that for years was a jihadi highway through which thousands flowed to join the Islamic State group in neighboring Syria. (AP)

United Kingdom: The country went to war in Iraq before all peaceful options for disarming Saddam Hussein were exhausted, the long-awaited Chilcot report has concluded. (BBC)

MIDDLE EAST

Iran: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei lashed out at some western countries for “raising” terrorism in the Muslim world. (Xinhua)

Syria: The Islamic State group said it carried out a suicide bombing that killed 16 people in a mainly Kurdish city of Hassakeh. (AFP)

Yemen: Yemeni government forces supported by a Saudi-led coalition recaptured army headquarters at Aden airport from suspected jihadists after an hours-long firefight. (AFP)

TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS

Technology: In a fusion of ancient barbaric practices and modern technology, the Islamic State group sells women and girls held as sex slaves on smart phone apps, like WhatsApp and Telegram. (AP)